Operation House Call tests ability to get medications into hands of county residents

In the case of a statewide emergency, how would you get your diabetes supplies, hypertension medicine or methadone doses? The Howard County Health Department conducted a drill Wednesday to ensure they could deliver medical supplies needed in a public health emergency.

Operation House Call is part of a statewide effort funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Counties develop a public health emergency scenario to test the capacity of the Health Department and community agencies to conduct door-to-door medicine delivery. A portion of the Clemens Crossing neighborhood in the village of Hickory Ridge served as the target area for the exercise.

The drill was a full-scale event for the health department that began with the assembly of more than 600 bags of information and materials to be delivered to Clemens Crossing. Once completed, four teams of Health Department personnel delivered the bags to households to simulate the response to a true public health crisis.

Various county departments provided support that ranged from security, evaluation, providing additional vehicles, map making and neighborhood identification.

"As health care providers and local leaders, we need to be prepared to protect our residents should a health crisis strike in Howard County," said County Executive Ken Ulman. "I want to thank the Health Department, the other county agencies and community partners who came together to plan and carry out this full-scale exercise to test our ability to efficiently and effectively respond."

For more information about the Mass Dispensing Exercise, visit the Health Department website at www.hchealth.org. The Department of Homeland Security's Ready.gov website helps individuals, families and businesses prepare for most types of emergencies.